Austin Rivers - where there is smoke, there is fire

[pfrduke]

But you didn't say it, and he did. Which means he was willing to put his reputation and credibility on the line, and you're not.

If he turns out to be right, then he earns credibility. That's how the whole credibility thing works.

Let's see how he's doing...

http://marchtomarch.fantake.com/2010...2010/#more-942

Seems like he is doing pretty well. In the statements where he says he is pretty sure, he was right. In the Ray McCallum situation, he seemed to hedge. In none of those other situations was he as definitive as he has been about AR to Duke. As has been stated, I can't trust him yet, but if he is right about this, I will next time. That is how trust is earned. You gotta like his moxie.

(all of these his's could be her's)

He's doing guesswork based on what he sees. Some hits, some misses. But that's what it's like to cover basketball recruiting. If sharing his best guesses means he's credible, then he's credible. If "not actively spreading lies" means he's credible, then he's credible.

Maybe he has an inside source regarding the Rivers recruitment...or maybe he's just speculating based on public information. I haven't seen anything to suggest the former over the latter, but until that happens I'll just remain hopeful that his "prescient wisdom" on Rivers turns out more like his BK wisdom than his Lamb wisdom.

Ok, you collectively convinced me that I overreacted. For my own personal purposes, I'm not prepared to rely on things that are phrased as unsourced guesses, opinions, and speculations. But having not read more of their site than the post linked above that I criticized, I likely didn't give the entire operation enough credit. There seems to at least be some track record that I wasn't aware of when I spouted off. Chalk it up to frustration with the general nature of recruiting coverage (and way too many 12 hour days at the office). My apologies to all for this diversion, and to Vasherized especially if anything I said offended.

[Dev11]

Passer-by stalker update: Austin was walking around campus today with Little Big Man Coach Wojo and Dr. Badass.

[MCFinARL]

Passer-by stalker update: Austin was walking around campus today with Little Big Man Coach Wojo and Dr. Badass.

So, I'm obviously a newbie. Who is Dr. Badass?

[RainingThrees]

Dr badass? That might be one of the best knick-names I've ever heard. So who is it?

[Highlander]

Not sure, but I've heard that Nate's a Badass.

[Class of '94]

So, I'm obviously a newbie. Who is Dr. Badass?

The one and only Coach Nate James, I believe.

[baby-face dawkins]

Nate James?

[Channing]

Nate James ... DBA Dr. Badass

[Reddevil]

So, I'm obviously a newbie. Who is Dr. Badass?

Q: Nate James

A: Who is Dr. Badass?

CORRECT!

[RainingThrees]

With Nate James recruiting Austin Rivers I am much more confident that we will get him. Maybe we should get our second best recruiter on the job AKA Andre Dawkins.

[airowe]

With Nate James recruiting Austin Rivers I am much more confident that we will get him. Maybe we should get our second best recruiter on the job AKA Andre Dawkins.

Coach Chris Collins is actually the lead recruiter on Austin and you should already be confident that we will get Austin as Collins has a great track record landing guards and seems to have something in common with sons of former NBA players

[Cockabeau]

Nate James...such a great hire

[Dev11]

Pardon me, I thought I read somewhere on this board that with his redshirt year, Nate James was actually able to complete his BA in sociology and a doctorate in Badass. I didn't mean to cause confusion.

[SilkyJ]

Awww man I got on this thread hoping for some good Austin rivers news...

A ridiculous expectation. Recruiting threads are 90% people yelling at each other. Its amazing to me how worked up people get over this stuff.

My perspective: college players come and players go, but there is one constant: Michael William Krzyzewski. You guys should look him up. He's done some pretty neat stuff.

As for Vasherized, I'll say this: regardless of whether he's right or you believe him or don't or any of that stuff: people change their minds. If he is really going to go all the way through the summer without announcing then its a really bold limb to go out on and predict that he's already a done deal to Duke. A lot can happen in a few months or even weeks.

Let's say Vash is right, let's say he gave Coach K a silent verbal last night, or heck weeks/months ago, whose to say he won't change his mind? Vasherized could be right this whole time and then something happens in July, Austin changes his mind, and Vash looks like a fool (and is suddenly absent from these boards...)

FWIW, I am inclined to believe Vash/his site have some line into the family and are not just woofing.

[Starter]

Honestly, who cares about the blog? This seems like a huge pride issue among people here, and I can't discern why. We're not going to know if Rivers comes to Duke for some time, and even when we do, we're probably never going to know whether Vasherized had any more insight than any of the people who claim to have "sources" or whatever on this board do. Even if he gives away whatever source he has, we're still probably never going to know if he actually knew anything. So what does any of it matter? I've looked at his blog; it seems mostly speculatory, but it's fun to speculate and he's not hurting anything. Maybe he knows something or someone, maybe he doesn't, the sun still rises in the morning.

More importantly -- Dev11, let's get some more details here... I'm hunting for clues. Was Rivers wearing a Duke shirt? Was he in between Nate and Wojo -- or on the right? The left? And at the banquet last night, did Rivers' suit have pinstripes? Was he being silent? Or verbal?

[CDu]

Honestly, who cares about the blog? This seems like a huge pride issue among people here, and I can't discern why. We're not going to know if Rivers comes to Duke for some time, and even when we do, we're probably never going to know whether Vasherized had any more insight than any of the people who claim to have "sources" or whatever on this board do. Even if he gives away whatever source he has, we're still probably never going to know if he actually knew anything. So what does any of it matter? I've looked at his blog; it seems mostly speculatory, but it's fun to speculate and he's not hurting anything. Maybe he knows something or someone, maybe he doesn't, the sun still rises in the morning.

Agreed. For the record, Vasherized (and anyone else) has a coinflip's chance of being correct that Rivers is headed to Duke assuming he/she has zero insider knowledge. Further, even if someone has insider knowledge, it's all speculative until the player makes a decision. So speculation now (with or without insider knowledge) may very well be accurate now but subject to change prior to the player's decision.

So whether Vasherized's speculation/guess is correct or not shouldn't have much if any confirmation of credibility. He could either have insider info or not (my guess is not, but that's just my guess). The outcome won't provide or hurt his credibility.

And further, as you note: who cares (aside from Vasherized, obviously)?

[Big Pappa]

I just posted this in the Quincy Miller thread but it deserves to be here too:

I wasn't at the banquet last night (because I live in Texas) but I just saw this article from ZagsBlog.com by Adam Zagoria who covers the Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio:


DUKE HOSTING STUDS

Duke is hosting 2011 recruits Quincy Miller, Austin Rivers, Amir Williams, & Michael Gbinije at Thursday’s banquet.

The 6-4 Rivers, a junior out of Winter Park (Fla.), decommitted from Florida and is now looking at Florida, Duke and North Carolina.

“Florida is still the front-runner and Duke, it’s those two,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told me about his son. “He’s just looking around. I think he wants to really look at other schools to get a bearing on what he likes and I like what he’s doing.”

Awesome and encouraging quote by Doc.

[Vasherized]

FWIW, I am inclined to believe Vash/his site have some line into the family and are not just woofing.

Trust your inclinations, SilkyJ.

[JasonEvans]

“Florida is still the front-runner and Duke, it’s those two,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told me about his son. “He’s just looking around. I think he wants to really look at other schools to get a bearing on what he likes and I like what he’s doing.”

I wonder if that quote is old because I thought the consensus was that Florida was pretty much out of it for Rivers after they took the Rutgers transfer kid.

--Jason "methinks Duke is in gooood shape on Austin" Evans

[Big Pappa]

I wonder if that quote is old because I thought the consensus was that Florida was pretty much out of it for Rivers after they took the Rutgers transfer kid.

--Jason "methinks Duke is in gooood shape on Austin" Evans

That's correct, it was from an April 6th interview.